XBMC (formerly "Xbox Media Center") is a free, [http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html open source (GPL)] multimedia player that originally ran on the first-generation [[Wikipedia:Microsoft Xbox|XBox]], (not the newer Xbox 360), and now runs on computers running Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, and iOS. XBMC can be used to play/view the most popular video, audio, and picture formats, and many more lesser-known formats, including:

XBMC (formerly "Xbox Media Center") is a free, [http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html open source (GPL)] multimedia player that originally ran on the first-generation [[Wikipedia:Microsoft Xbox|XBox]], (not the newer Xbox 360), and now runs on computers running Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, and iOS. XBMC can be used to play/view the most popular video, audio, and picture formats, and many more lesser-known formats, including:

Line 8:

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These can all be played directly from a CD/DVD, or from the hard-drive. XBMC can also play multimedia from a computer over a local network (LAN), or play media streams directly from the Internet. For more information, see the [http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=XBMC_FAQ XBMC FAQ].

These can all be played directly from a CD/DVD, or from the hard-drive. XBMC can also play multimedia from a computer over a local network (LAN), or play media streams directly from the Internet. For more information, see the [http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=XBMC_FAQ XBMC FAQ].

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==Installation==

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As of version 12, it can also be used to play and record live TV using a tuner, a backend server and a PVR plugin; more information about this can be found on the [http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=PVR XBMC wiki].

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{{Note|These instructions assume you have a working X installation. If you have not done this yet, please consult [[Beginners_Guide#Graphical_User_Interface]].}}

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== Installation ==

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[[pacman|Install]] {{Pkg|xbmc}} from the [[official repositories]].

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Optionally install {{Pkg|xbmc-pvr-addons}} if users wish to use the pvr extensions of xbmc.

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The stable version of XBMC is available in the community repo:

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== Configuration ==

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{{bc|# pacman -Syu xbmc}}

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=== Autostarting at boot ===

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It is desirable to start XBMC automatically on boot. Since version 11.0-11, the '''xbmc''' package will automatically create the xbmc group, user, and provide an xbmc.service so systemd can manage xbmc without the need for a DE.

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The SVN (testing) version of XBMC can be downloaded from the [[AUR]] ([https://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=45036 XBMC-git]), e.g. using yaourt:

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To make XBMC start at system boot, enable the service:

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{{bc|$ yaourt -Syua xbmc-git}}

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# systemctl enable xbmc

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{{Warning|This is not the recommended way of using XBMC, as svn versions are always on the bleeding edge of development and thus can break sometimes. If you want a stable media center experience, go with the stable releases.}}

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=== Enabling shutdown, restart, hibernate and suspend ===

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==Starting XBMC==

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Since version 12 XBMC supports power management via systemd logind daemon. To enable it, {{Pkg|polkit}}, {{Pkg|upower}} and {{Pkg|udisks}} are required.

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First install [[D-Bus]] and add it to your [[Daemons#Starting_on_Boot|DAEMONS Array]] if you have not already:

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In case XBMC is started using the systemd service, the session might not get initialized properly and therefore polkit may not allow the shutdown or reboot of the system. If this happens, adding the following rule file will allow users in the ''power'' and ''storage'' group to shutdown, restart, hibernate and suspend computer.

{{Note|There is an active bug report to have the package provide this file, but as of 21-Nov-2013 it has not been implemented.}}

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Make sure you add your user (or whatever user will run xmbc on your system) to at least groups '''audio''', '''video''', and '''storage'''.

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=== Sharing a Database Between Multiple XBMC PCs ===

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Provided that a box on the network is running mariadb, one can easily configure multiple xbmc boxes to share a database. The advantage of this is that key meta are stored in one place, a show can be paused on one box and then resumed on another seamlessly, and the record of what has been watched is unified.

Setup of this is beyond the scope of this article. Consult [http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=HOW-TO:Share_libraries_using_MySQL/Setting_up_MySQL#tab=Arch_Linux the Setting up MySQL for Arch Linux] hosted by the XBMC project wiki.

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{{Note|If you do not run [[Sudo]], simply run the above command as root. You may also need to swap out $USER for another username if you are not logged in as the xbmc user.}}

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=== Using a remote controller ===

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===Autostarting at Boot===

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As XBMC is geared toward being a remote-controlled media center; any PC with a supported IR receiver/remote, can use remote using [[LIRC]] or using the native kernel supported modules. To work properly with xbmc, a file will be required that maps the lirc events to xbmc keypresses. Create an [[Wikipedia:XML|XML]] file at {{ic|~/.xbmc/userdata/Lircmap.xml}} (note the capital 'L').

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Using the above method, xbmc should run every time you start your X server, so auto-starting at boot can be configured just like a [[Display Manager]], with one important difference. If you choose to use the {{ic|/etc/inittab}} method, you can skip loading a display manager altogether and autologin XBMC by default. To do this, change your default runlevel to 5 in {{ic|/etc/inittab}} as usual:

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{{Note|Users running xbmc from the included service file will find the xbmc home (~) under {{ic|/var/lib/xbmc}} and should substitute this in for the shortcut above. Also make sure that if creating this file as the root user, it gets proper ownership as xbmc:xbmc when finished.}}

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Lircmap.xml format is as follows:

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{{bc|## Only one of the following two lines can be uncommented!

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{{bc|1=<lircmap>

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# Boot to console

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<remote device="devicename">

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'''#'''id:3:initdefault:

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<XBMC_button>LIRC_button</XBMC_button>

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# Boot to X11

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...

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id:5:initdefault:}}

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</remote>

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</lircmap>}}

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Note the comment (#) in front of {{ic|id:3:initdefault:}} and not {{ic|id:5:initdefault}}. Then, comment out all the default display manager lines at the end of the file:

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* '''Device Name''' is whatever LIRC calls the remote. This is set using the '''Name''' directive in lircd.conf and can be viewed by running {{ic|$ irw}} and pressing a few buttons on the remote. IRW will report the name of the button pressed and the name of the remote will appear on the end of the line.

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{{bc|# Example lines for starting a login manager

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* '''XBMC_button''' is the name of the button as defined in [http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Keymap.xml keymap.xml].

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#x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/xdm -nodaemon

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#x:5:respawn:/usr/sbin/gdm -nodaemon

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#x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/kdm -nodaemon

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#x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/slim >/dev/null 2>&1}}

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Finally, add this line (toward the end of the file, near where the lines you just commented are):

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* '''LIRC_button''' is the name as defined in {{ic|lircd.conf}}. If lircd.conf was autogenerated using {{ic|# irrecord}}, these are the names selected for the buttons. Refer back to [[LIRC]] for more information.

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{{bc|x:5:wait:login -f <YOUR_XBMC_USERNAME> </dev/tty7 &>/dev/tty7}}

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* A very thorough [http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Lircmap.xml Lircmap.xml] page over at the [http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Main_Page XBMC Wiki] should be consulted for more help and information on this subject as this is out of scope of this article.

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{{Warning|'''There is a security risk using this method.''' This bypasses login authentication and should only be used if you are sure you know what you are doing!}}

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==== MCE remote with Lirc and Systemd ====

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If you use systemd you can try this:

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Install {{Pkg|lirc-utils}} and link the mce config:

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{{hc|/etc/systemd/system/autologin.service|<nowiki>

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[Unit]

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Description=Direct login to X

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After=systemd-user-sessions.service

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[Service]

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# ln -s /usr/share/lirc/mceusb/lircd.conf.mceusb /etc/lirc/lircd.conf

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Restart=always

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ExecStart=/sbin/mingetty --autologin <username> tty7 linux

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[Install]

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Then, make sure the remote is using the lirc protocol:

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WantedBy=graphical.target

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$ cat /sys/class/rc/rc0/protocols

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</nowiki>}}

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If not, issue:

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# echo lirc > /sys/class/rc/rc0/protocols

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Also you need install mingetty package.

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A udev rule can be added to make lirc the default. A write rule does not seem to work, so a simple RUN command can be executed instead.

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Save your {{ic|/etc/inittab}} changes and add the following to your {{ic|.bash_profile}}:

{{Note|If this does not work, follow the suggestion to use tmpfiles.d as specified in the [[LIRC#Kernel_module_change|LIRC wiki]] to set the remote to the lirc protocol at boot time.}}

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You may also add a {{ic|.hushlogin}} to your home directory to further suppress login messages:

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Next, specify the lirc device. This varies with kernel version. As of 3.6.1 {{ic|/dev/lirc0}} should work with the default driver.

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{{bc|touch ~/.hushlogin}}

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{{hc|/etc/conf.d/lircd.conf|2=

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#

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# Parameters for lirc daemon

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#

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====ConsoleKit Issues with Automatic Login via /etc/inittab====

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LIRC_DEVICE="/dev/lirc0"

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LIRC_DRIVER="default"

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LIRC_EXTRAOPTS=""

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LIRC_CONFIGFILE=""}}

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[[ConsoleKit]] is known to have problems registering a session as both local and active when logging in directly via the {{ic|/etc/inittab}} method described above. If you would like to be able to shutdown and reboot your machine directly from XBMC while logging in via {{ic|/etc/inittab}}, perform the autologin via mingetty (note: this method requires '''mingetty''' and '''upower''' to be installed). There are two steps involved:

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The default service file for lirc ignores this conf file. So we need to create a custom one.

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* 1. Comment out the line {{ic|x:5:wait:login -f <YOUR_XBMC_USERNAME> </dev/tty7 &>/dev/tty7}} from above and, in the consoles section of {{ic|/etc/inittab}}, append the following:

* 2. Then, in your XBMC user's {{ic|~/.bash_profile}}, include the following (in place of the {{ic|.bash_profile}} line indicated above) (source: [https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=887022#p887022 Arch forums]):

As XBMC is geared toward being a remote-controlled media center, if your computer has an IR receiver, you will probably want to set up a remote using [[LIRC]]. Once you are sure your remote is working properly (tested with {{ic|$ irw}}), add '''lircd''' to your [[Daemons#Starting_on_Boot|DAEMONS Array]] and you'll be ready to create an Lircmap.xml file for it.

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Finally, enable and start the lirc service:

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Using your favorite text editor, you'll need to go in and create an [[Wikipedia:XML|XML]] file at {{ic|~/.xbmc/userdata/Lircmap.xml}} (note the capital 'L'). Lircmap.xml format is as follows:

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# systemctl enable lirc

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# systemctl start lirc

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{{bc|1=<lircmap>

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This should give a fully working mce remote.

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<remote device="devicename">

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<XBMC_button>LIRC_button</XBMC_button>

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=== Fullscreen mode stretches XBMC across multiple displays ===

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...

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</remote>

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</lircmap>}}

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* '''Device Name''' is whatever LIRC calls your remote. This is set using the '''Name''' directive in lircd.conf and can be viewed by running {{ic|$ irw}} and pressing a few buttons on the remote. IRW will report the name of the button pressed and the name of the remote will appear on the end of the line.

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For a multi-monitor setup, XBMC may default to stretching across all screens. One can restrict the fullscreen mode to one display by setting the environment variable SDL_VIDEO_FULLSCREEN_HEAD to the number of the desired target display. For example, having xbmc show up on display 0, add the following line to the xbmc user's [[Bashrc]]:

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* '''XBMC_button''' is the name of the button as defined in [http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Keymap.xml keymap.xml].

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SDL_VIDEO_FULLSCREEN_HEAD=0

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* '''LIRC_button''' is the name as defined in {{ic|lircd.conf}}. If you automatically generated your lircd.conf using {{ic|# irrecord}}, these are the names you selected for your button then. Refer back to [[LIRC]] for more information.

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{{Note|Mouse cursor will be held inside screen with XBMC.}}

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* You may want to check out the very thorough [http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Lircmap.xml Lircmap.xml] page over at the [http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Main_Page XBMC Wiki] for more help and information on this subject.

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=== Slowing down CD/DVD drive speed ===

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===Fullscreen mode stretches XBMC accross multiple displays===

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The {{ic|eject}} program from the {{ic|util-linux}} package does a nice job for this, but its setting is cleared as soon as the media is changed.

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If you have got a multi-monitor setup and don't want XBMC to stretch accross all screens, you cann restrict the fullscreen mode to one display, by setting the environment variable SDL_VIDEO_FULLSCREEN_HEAD to the number of the desired target display. For example if you want XBMC to show up on display 0 you can add the following line to your [[Bashrc]]:

Replace {{ic|sr0}} with the device name of your optical drive. Replace {{ic|-x 2}} with {{ic|-x 4}} if you prefer 4x-speed instead of 2x-speed.

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If you have problems with shutdown, suspend or hibernate within XBMC make sure your user is in the ''wheel'' group and also that the upower package is installed.

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After creating the file, reload the udev rules with

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# udevadm control --reload

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==Resources==

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== See also ==

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* [http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Main_Page XBMC Wiki]: An excellent resource with much information about Arch Linux specifically (upon which the original version of this article was largely based).

Revision as of 22:09, 21 November 2013

XBMC (formerly "Xbox Media Center") is a free, open source (GPL) multimedia player that originally ran on the first-generation XBox, (not the newer Xbox 360), and now runs on computers running Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, and iOS. XBMC can be used to play/view the most popular video, audio, and picture formats, and many more lesser-known formats, including:

Video - DVD-Video, VCD/SVCD, MPEG-1/2/4, DivX, XviD, Matroska

Audio - MP3, AAC.

Picture - JPG, GIF, PNG.

These can all be played directly from a CD/DVD, or from the hard-drive. XBMC can also play multimedia from a computer over a local network (LAN), or play media streams directly from the Internet. For more information, see the XBMC FAQ.

As of version 12, it can also be used to play and record live TV using a tuner, a backend server and a PVR plugin; more information about this can be found on the XBMC wiki.

Installation

Configuration

Autostarting at boot

It is desirable to start XBMC automatically on boot. Since version 11.0-11, the xbmc package will automatically create the xbmc group, user, and provide an xbmc.service so systemd can manage xbmc without the need for a DE.

To make XBMC start at system boot, enable the service:

# systemctl enable xbmc

Enabling shutdown, restart, hibernate and suspend

Since version 12 XBMC supports power management via systemd logind daemon. To enable it, polkit, upower and udisks are required.

In case XBMC is started using the systemd service, the session might not get initialized properly and therefore polkit may not allow the shutdown or reboot of the system. If this happens, adding the following rule file will allow users in the power and storage group to shutdown, restart, hibernate and suspend computer.

Note: There is an active bug report to have the package provide this file, but as of 21-Nov-2013 it has not been implemented.

Sharing a Database Between Multiple XBMC PCs

Provided that a box on the network is running mariadb, one can easily configure multiple xbmc boxes to share a database. The advantage of this is that key meta are stored in one place, a show can be paused on one box and then resumed on another seamlessly, and the record of what has been watched is unified.

Using a remote controller

As XBMC is geared toward being a remote-controlled media center; any PC with a supported IR receiver/remote, can use remote using LIRC or using the native kernel supported modules. To work properly with xbmc, a file will be required that maps the lirc events to xbmc keypresses. Create an XML file at ~/.xbmc/userdata/Lircmap.xml (note the capital 'L').

Note: Users running xbmc from the included service file will find the xbmc home (~) under /var/lib/xbmc and should substitute this in for the shortcut above. Also make sure that if creating this file as the root user, it gets proper ownership as xbmc:xbmc when finished.

Device Name is whatever LIRC calls the remote. This is set using the Name directive in lircd.conf and can be viewed by running $ irw and pressing a few buttons on the remote. IRW will report the name of the button pressed and the name of the remote will appear on the end of the line.

Fullscreen mode stretches XBMC across multiple displays

For a multi-monitor setup, XBMC may default to stretching across all screens. One can restrict the fullscreen mode to one display by setting the environment variable SDL_VIDEO_FULLSCREEN_HEAD to the number of the desired target display. For example, having xbmc show up on display 0, add the following line to the xbmc user's Bashrc:

SDL_VIDEO_FULLSCREEN_HEAD=0

Note: Mouse cursor will be held inside screen with XBMC.

Slowing down CD/DVD drive speed

The eject program from the util-linux package does a nice job for this, but its setting is cleared as soon as the media is changed.